1409 ( )

Other than Thor, I don't read any individual Marvel character lines. This makes the tie-in releases all the more important for reading Marvel events, like Siege. I jumped into Siege because I enjoyed Kieron Gillen’s run of Thor, which overlaps Siege. Battlefield is the second tie-in I have read, after Embedded, and it was fantastic. It collects five different character stories: Loki, Spider-Man, Captain America, Young Avengers and Secret Warriors.

The book opens with Siege: Loki, which I had already read in the Thor Ultimate Collection by Gillen. However, the story is so good, I didn't hesitate to reread it. Here readers see how Loki has manipulated Osborn into attacking Asgard, but also his motivations for doing so (beyond being a villain). The best part of the story is seeing Loki engage in battle with the Disir. He’s not just a behind-the-scenes mischief maker – he’s also a warrior in his own right.

Siege: Spider-Man brings a little humor into a very dark storyline when he faces off against Venom, with some help from Ms. Marvel. There is a good bit of witty banter, as one would expect from Spider-Man, but also some cool action as these two heroes try to work together. A short, but fun sideline.

Next up, the two Captains America must come to the aid of some stupid civilians trying to get pictures of the battle to sell to tabloids. The story was comical in so much as it was oddly realistic. I could easily see people endangering themselves and their family to do something similar! The story is mainly an excuse for Bucky to come to terms with being himself and also being Captain America. He’s not Steve Rogers, but he has a role to fill. I felt this was the weakest story in the book, though still worth reading.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Siege: New Avengers. I was not familiar with these characters at all before Battlefield, but the interplay between the team members was so well done that I'm very tempted to search out the New Avengers line to read more about them. Their efforts are mainly search and rescue, but they also make the point of how the heroes let this happen by not stopping Osborn sooner. It definitely has echoes of WWII, and the US waiting until it was nearly too late to do the right thing.

The last story is Siege: Secret Warriors. This is a very brief story about Phobos’ attempt to get to the president to talk to him, after learning of the death of his father Ares. Phobos fails, after taking down most of the secret service, and so leaves a warning message for the president about how he “sacrificed honor for expediency” and must do better lest there be repercussions.

Overall, this is an excellent collection of stories tying into the Siege event. Highly recommended! ( )